Means for displaying stair coverings



March 23 1926. 1.578,226

p E. B. wlLLlAMsoN MEANS FOR DISPLAYING VSTAIR COVERINGS Filed April .10,1925 3 sheets-sheet);

E. Bunn-Liann llr'ENrM HY r ATTIRNEI,

March 23 ,1926.

` E.' B. WILLIAMSON MEANS FOR DISPLAYING STAIR COVERINGS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 23 1926. 1,578,226

, E. B. WILLIAMSON u MEANS FQR DISPLAYING STAIR COVERINGS 50 Filed April 1o, A1925 s sheets-sheet s lIl() i Patented Mar. 23, 1926.

fierezza? V1:1210'jammerWn,L Iiuirsoir, oFBnoMLnY, ENGLAND. i

" -nmsFoR-DSPLAYINGUSTMR:eowemrros V Application med. April, 1.o, 1925.' seria-1,No.`fa2l,'z2e.v

ToA allV whom it'. may Gomera .1

Be it known that ]3 Emo BRYANy lVtLrirAMf solo', a subject of the King' ot Great. Brita-in,z

residing' at Bromley, tlie county' of Kent Englmrlf, have invented 'Improvedv Means for lispl'avingl Stalin" Coverings, of Wlri'eli then following is a specification;

This invention relatesztoziinproved meanslfor displaying stai-r coveringss When patterns of stair carpets' ortho.- likeA are. being showin' to' customers," it frequently' hwppe'ns that the `onstoirnerl desires t@ see the pattern laid on astaiiw'ay inA order he may judge' of the effect when "lividi, This necessitates detaioling thel pattern from the demonstration frame' on Wlliiel it isnioimted and laying it on a stairway and mooi-1 time The object of' the present' invention isto provide means l,vifhe'reby a mim-ber* of pat-7 terns of stair coverings may' rapidlyand easily be displayed initiurn, leid upona portion ofV an stairway, sti-"that the' customer mayrat once laid. n

Accordingiiotle invention a` strip,- formed of a number' of patterns of st'ir 'coverings joined together, is' drawnby sii-itzvble4 means over' a short stairway andZ is cafsedtlo assume e step formation: r

' The strip may for example be" given 'tlief stepl forinaorfby passing it under the' stairy rods' and over the'` stair treads, an'din order to' facilitatethe;A movement' of, the strip" over the displayfapparatus-tliei supports or guides" for` thee-trip are preferably Vinl-the forni o1 freely' rotating' rollers.

Alternatively tliek stair treadsI Ina-y' be piv otally mount'edf` so as to move into ajin obliquev` position dfuringtlie travel of the stair Cover ing, the covering being thereby permitted to' travel in a' substantially straight line over the stairway, inl oorisequence'-of wli-ielr the' traotiive effort reqsuiired to Inove=`tlie`s151p isi reduced. The stair rods are carried upon tli'epivoting' tread so that' the said tread is- K moved about its pivotV as soon as' tle strip of stair covering is' placed underl tensionv preparatory to moving' over the short4 siairff way. A

Means maybe providedC for reversing tlxeI direction offtravei of tllestfrip over the stair- V lWayagt any desired moment.-

'the display apparatus,

oit? Fig.. 1.k I Y: Y Referring to the' drawings,I l, is-y astrong frafmework, built up: -oi angle iron *l'or ex:-y

Tlre invention'ils. illustrated by Way of ample in the accompanying drawings in Fig; y1 is a side eleva-tion of one torna Fig. 2 's a sectional rt-B of Fig., 1,` v

ample, in the lsides of Wliieli. are" inoirnted bearings 2f vand 3--f0rcarrying a pair 'of drums 4, 5f.` These: drumsy are formed W-itlr Wide flangesv` 6, Zk and. to'l eaoh-druni isI se-- of a number of "Carpet patternsjf'iin'edtoLV plain view on: the line Fig. 4? is aside elevation rolf an alternative Fig.: 5 iis ai partialplanview of Fig. Y Fig. 6' an: elevation looking :trom the rig-ht getl'ieri,A 9 and LOare a pair of parallel and, f1

rigid supports4 arranged obliquel'yl aeross the `sides of! the struotiire1 and; these supports;

carry a numberofbearings 1:15,., 12, 13, 114,- or rollers '15,; I6, 17,18*; 'Fliesearolleiis are arranged inv positionsWli-icbcorrespond torv thosea of titi-e stairrods and the liront edgesy f ofthe starr treads iii an ordinary stairway;

If preferredvtlie rollers 1:6', 'A-l, lina-y be: sl'lbstitutedt by rods ocoircu'l'ai1 cross seo--V tion rigidly iXledf at' appropriate@ pointstor the supports 9, 19,-. sai-dI rods being 'su-reny A rounded by easily' rotaitsble' 'fsleeves, C'bere being iii necessary ainumber off suche sleeves l is drawni from, saey the rollerv 5,. passing.

round. ab guide rollerlQFearrried inf bearings-:20 on: the rearv Wallf oltlie structure l. andi their travelling substantially' horizontally: toi the' roller IUS over which. it passes1 aszthough overA tl'ie edge:v of a stair tread, vnent' round' 'i the roller 17 Corresponding to aY stairrod:v

and' sof ons round' rollers.v 16,' 15, and kand finally onf-f iothe' other drumfl. '1

'WTlii-le" the display apparatus sliovvnf lia.

only two steps or stairs it will of course be Y the strip may be displayed endsy are provided,

understood that any convenient number Ymay. be employed.

The motive powerffor'driving, the drums 4 and 5 is derived from lanelectrielmotor 22 mounted 1n the bottom of the structure.

The power is transmitted by belt lorchain`Vv e ,s

method of driving may be employed. An

from the motor pulley23`to` af pulleyfor chain wheel 24 rigidly mounted at one end of ,5 a shaft 25 carried in bearings 26 on upright members of the framewor {.w At the end of a shaft 25 away from the pulley 24 is rigidly mounted as'mall'pinion 27 which in 7 turn transmits motion .by a belt or chainytor4 a pulley or chain wheel 28 rigidly mounted on a Yshaft '29 carried in bearings 30. 3l

V and 32 are two. clutch members 'mounted 'tozv rotate freely on yshaft29and-these two members 31 and 32 are provided with? pulleyjorA .chain wheels 33, 34 ywhichdrive`,'t-hroughY belt or "chain, the drums 5 and4 respective-v ly. V35 is ai clutch member lkeyed to the shaft 29 so as to rotatetherewith, but capable of sliding longitudinally thereon and according as the sliding clutch memberismoved along shaft 29 down o'r'up in Fig. 2so1s the drive transmitted to drum '4 or drum 5 and4 the strip 8 moved-across the displayapparatus in one direction or the other.

l Fig. 3 illustrates a simple jconstruction of hand operated clutch mechanism'. 361s a f hand lever formed by one armffof a bell f crank lever and movable in a suitable quad` rant37 about an axis 3S. The other arm 3i) of the bell crank lever impartsmovement'lto a rod 4() which in turn is connected toand.. rocks Athe kclutch operating lever 4l'. The latter is mounted at its lower end on a pivot l 42 4carried on the frame work andvcarries at" a point near itsv centre a pin 43 which vengages ina groove formed' yin the sliding clutch member 35 or in a ring 44 fixedon the member 35. It Awill readily be understood that Iby rocking the `hand leve-r'36 vbe-j Vtween its extreme positions the drive of the electric motor is transferredI from. the drums 4, 5 to the other.

When this construction of apparatus is iu operation and the stripof patterns has been run throughin one direction, the rotation of the winding-on drum' must bev arrested as the strip would otherwise be to-rn away from the emptied drum. This operation may be one of.y

@performed manually, but it is preferable to provide means whereby when the strip Vhas run a certain distance the current ofthe'v motor is automatically cut olf, or the clutch y disengaged and moved to an 'intermediate position so that the shaft 29 vrotates idly;l Y Any known arrangement for this purpose may be provided such as a nut sliding along a screwed rod rotating with one of the drums 4,15, said nut operating to open a v switch when the pre-arranged point in its movement along the screwed rod is reached.

'drum s to reverse. 'the In order that the whole of the patterns in for the strip of a different material, or 0f patterns'which itis not desired to display.

It' ,will be understoodthat the. driving arrangement described above is 'only referred togasfan example, VVandvthat any convenient alternative arrangement may'comprisea friction wheelrigidly mounted lupon a driven shaftV arranged between the winding drums, the dimensions of the friction; Ywheel being such that a; slight displacement 'of oneendv of the driven shaft suffices-to bringxthefrictionwheel into Contact with afiangeofV one such, as a ha'ndl'lever maybe yprovided-to enable one endjof saidshaft ,to be moved.- in the frame of the'y display. apparatus"fory the purpose of disengaging the frictiofnidisc` from the flange of thewinding-o-n Vdrumto e arrest the drive, or of moving it out offconj tact with the flange of the w-indingon drum and into 'contact with the flange lof the other, l

direction of `ino-vement of the strip.

If'desired, extensions maybe bolted to thiefy drum flange, such extensionsbeing of metal ,for other material suited to the v'friction 'drive and not liable to-wearfrapidlye s A'In the construction illustrated in yto 6 `the patternstrip-50 of carpet or othery stair cover1ng, in vbeingfled from, say, drum' 51 to drum 52, is first led over a rollerf53 carriedv invbearings-p54 at the upper end of the framework 55 whence itis ledpreferf: ably horizontally toa roller 5.6 which is po: D sitioned toform the nosingv ofv the top step,K Y I Passing over the roller 56v itis next,V passed-- between the stairrod57r andthe stair treadA 58,. yover the;V nosing 59, betweensthe next. stairrodO and trea-dfland then horizons.4

tally tothe roller 62 over which it movesbefore being finally wound on to drum 5,2.

The stair treads'58 and 6l are hinged rcspectively at 63 and 64soas tobefcapable o-f moving about horizontal axesv determined by saidV hinges `into positions inclined,Y to the horizontal as shown in dotted "lines in Figzl 4. The stair rods 57 and 60areV carried in holes formed in small lugs83, 11p-standing from small plates 84 seouredat the ends of the treads 58 and 61, `said plates eXtending`- slightly over the ends ofthe treads tollimit their downward movement by engaging withv side members 65. Whilethe apparatus may of course bek power-driven the drawings illustrate a constructionadapted to be driven by hand. The shaft 66 carried in 'bearings- 67 at the upper part of the machine carries a hand-operated crank/Z8 and three toothed sprockets 68, 69 and 70, any one of which so that said sprocket may be rotated by the crank. v

'Ihe sprockets 68, 69 and 70 are. connected.

' by chains 71, 72, 7 3 with sprockets 74C, 75, 76,

adapted to be-rotated in conjunction with the drums 77, 51, 52. x

By suitably connecting any v'oneqof the sprockets 68, 69 or 70 with the shaftr66, the corresponding drum canbe Ydriven to wind Von the strip of patterns, the unwinding sprocket l70 is connected with shaft 66, the

other two sprockets69 and 70 on the same shaft being allowed to run freely.

On turning the crank 78 drum 52 i-s-ro-` tated through the medium of chain 72 and sprocket 75 to wind on the strip pulled from drum 51. The latter drum rotates quite freely, its sprocket 76 being connectedvbyv chain 7 3 with freely rotatable'sprocket 69. As soon as a pull is exerted on the pattern strip, that partfsituated between rollerl 56` and roller 62 tends tostraighten out and if the pull is continued the stair rods 57 and 60 resting on the strip arelifted together with the treads 5S and 61 tothe position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4. This arrangement permits the strip to be moved with av muchvsmaller tractivei effort than would be required if the treads wereixed.

WV hen vit is desired to view a certain pattern Vin position, driving is stopped and the 'strip is pulled down` into the stepped for- Y mation by .the downward`movement of the strip between drums 51 and 52 is wound on to drum 51. A piece of canvas or the like which forms the end of the strip nearest roller 52 is disconnected from the first set of patterns, passed over the additional roller 8O and connected to the patterns wound on drum 77. This pattern strip can now be passed backwards and forwardsv between drums 52 and 77 in the manner described above, the drum 77 being, however, driven through the medium of sprocket 68. In the arrangement illustrated the chain 71 transmitting the drive tothe sprocket 7 4, of'drum 77 vmoves over an additional sprocket 81 loosely mo-untedon the shaft s of drum` 51. It will be readily understood that any number of additional pattern drums77 may be provided. I

`I claim:

1. Av stair coveringv displaying device coml prising a track formed kof fixed surfaces and amovable surface between said fixed surfacesand` means adapted to dra-w a length of stair covering vover said fixed andv movable Surfaces. i Y l 2. 'A sta horizontally between said vertical sections,V said movable sections being adapted to ir covering `displaying devicecomv risino' a track formed'of vertical sections and movable sections which normally. lief 0 4 swing upwardto occupy -a position substanf ,Y tially bridging the space between the upper ec ges of adjoiningvertical sections.

3. A stair-covering' displaying device coinprising a stepped track, means adapted to drawv a length of. stair-covering over lsaid track, a tread portion of said track so pivoted as toV be capable of taking up an oblique position, means adapted to return said tread v portion to the horizontal position, and means adapted t0 hold said stair-coveringvclose to said tread portion but to permit of said vstair-covering being drawn along said track.

A stair-covering displaying device com`- prismg a stepped track, means adapted to rdraw a vlengthV of stair-covering over said track, a tread portion of said track pivotally mounted toV turn on an axis nearand* parallel, to the front edge of said tread por# tion, and ya rod lying parallel to the inner edge of sa-idrtread portion, and mounted thereon, beneath which rod the stair-cover# ing is adapted to pass freely.

5. A stair-covering displayingdevicecoml prising a stepped track, means'adapted, to draw a length of stair-covering over said track, part of a tread portion of said trackl pivotally mounted to turn on an axis near and parallel tothe front edge of said tread portion, anda rod lying parallel to the inner edge of` said tread portion and mounted thereon, beneath which rod the stair-covering is adapted to pass freely.

6. A stair-covering displaying device asclaimed in claim 3 wherein the pivoted portion of the tread is so weightedas to return by gravity from the oblique to the horizontal position. i

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to thisspecification.

ERIC `BRYAN l/YILLIAMSON. 

